Progress continues in pursuit of waste franchise agreements

CHICO — The city of Chico and Butte County are both inching closer to forming waste franchise agreements to regulate regional waste haulers.

During a Local Government Committee meeting today, county and city officials discussed their progress and potential timelines for moving forward. While the county wants to consider a contract by late summer, the city of Chico hopes to have something in place in the next few years.

"There's still a lot of unanswered questions," said Linda Herman of the city's General Services Department, as she noted things are moving forward more so now than ever.

While franchise agreements have been discussed in all of Herman's 15 years with the city, it was during the most recent permit renewal in 2011 that the discussion intensified and it's been building ever since.

The county and city are working with the same consultant, which has identified zone options and exclusive operational agreements. Both residential and commercial hauling are considerations.

In a zone option, hauling companies would be given specific areas in which they could operate and residents would not longer have a choice in service provider. Another option is an exclusive agreement in which one hauler would have rights to an entire area.

The driving force behind the desire to find an alternative method is to reduce truck volume, both from an infrastructure and environmental perspective as dictated by the Climate Action Plan.

"One of the things we hear all the time from our citizens is, 'Why do we have so many trucks running all over our streets and what are the impacts?'" Chico City Manager Brian Nakamura said today.

Waste haulers are supportive of a change because they recognize increased efficiency with zones or exclusive agreements, Herman said. Other benefits include guaranteed revenue and longer-term security.

For citizens, franchise agreements can offer increased services, regulated rates, less congestion, and consistency, she said.

No changes will be coming to the city until after a lengthy public process with public input, a bid process and contractual agreements, Herman said. Any number of options are available, including sticking with the current permit system.

Two waste haulers — Recology and Waste Management — currently operate in the city of Chico through permits, which are approved every five years. The existing permits will expire in June 2016, and the goal is to have a change in place by then, Herman said.

Butte County is further along in the process and looking more toward zoning, said Chief Administrative Officer Paul Hahn. The county has been broken down into equal areas so no haulers lose clients, and negotiations are underway regarding customer service standards and other operational points.

"It's not just conceptual," he said. "We have approved ideas and approved zones."

The hope is to bring the actual contract to the Board of Supervisors by late summer, he said.

"The county's main goal in this is to make sure the haulers bring their trash to the Neal Road landfill," Hahn said. "We want that measurable solid waste for a variety of reasons."

Not only does the landfill need a certain amount of waste to be fiscally sound, but it also allows it to pursue more waste-to-energy opportunities, he said.

What the county would like to see is for the city's haulers to agree to bring their waste to the landfill.